Creating a password for an email address or a bank login can be one of the toughest decisions we make. In this day and age we have passwords for everything in life. How do we manage all this information and avoid it getting into the wrong hands?

First we should talk about password length. Use at least eight characters. The more characters the better, but most people will find difficult to remember a 15 character password. Do not use words from a standard dictionary. Never use the same password twice. Things you want to avoid are:

Do not just add a single digit or symbol before or after a word (pizza1)

Do not use the word password or your login name as the password

Do not use keyboard patterns (asdf) (qwerty)

Do not write the password down (post-it note under keyboard)

Do not use personal information when creating a password (birthdays, family name)

In order to create a strong password you must use one character of the following four criteria.

Upper Case letters (ABCD)

Lower Case letters (abcd)

Numbers (1234)

Special Characters (!@#$)

Choose a password that you can remember, so that you do not have to search for it every time. Choose a password that feels natural when you are typing it. The password should be quick and easily typed. This also reduces the chance of someone discovering your password by looking over your shoulder.

Once you have the perfect password create a routine on when to change it. Bank, PayPal, and credit card passwords should be changed more regularly. Accounts that have access to money or purchasing power must be strictly monitored. These are generally targeted quite frequently. Passwords to your favorite blog or forum is generally not a priority.

How do hackers usually get a password?

Steal it. They find a piece of paper with it written down. They looked over your shoulder as you type it. They use social engineering by sending you and email or calling you from a department in the company.

Guess it. You would be surprised how many people leave a password blank or call it “password”.

Brute Force Attack. This is software that uses every possible combination of letters numbers and symbols to guess the password. This is where password length is crucial.

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